World at War Comics · Thomas Huls

Infernal Hulk with Phillip Kennedy Johnson & Nic Klein

·1 hr 22 min·5 clips
Nic Klein says he tries to make Hulk's transformation 'gross and cool at the same time.'
The episode has to push through some ad clutter before it really settles in. Once it does, the host brings Philip Kennedy Johnson back and introduces Nick Klein, with everybody ready to talk Infernal Hulk. Marvel sounds crowded in the best and messiest comics way. The host keeps nudging for what can be said without getting anyone in trouble, while Johnson stays practical about the books. Some upcoming issues are numbered and marketed as Infernal Hulk one through ten, even though his focus is the story, not the packaging. Then the numbering gets even less tidy. Several Hulk-centric interlude issues sit around the main run too, almost like a countdown that still belongs to Infernal Hulk. Hulk War is the place all of this is headed. Johnson explains that the proper Hulk War books work as the third act of the story he and the team have been building. The host asks the pull-box question: is Hulk War: Infernal Rage the end of Johnson's Hulk run, or could more follow? Johnson leaves the door open. Hulk War closes the story pitched with Age of Monsters, but he is not calling his own exit in the room. Very comics. He talks about comics as a team sport, notes the positive reception, and avoids making a grand final statement. DC is still nearby too, with Superman and Kal-El material coming out for months after the work is basically done. By the end, the whole thing loosens into laughs, a bit of ramble, and an easy promise to do it again.

As heard by us

A lively Hulk conversation about structure, endings, and the machinery around a major Marvel run.

The episode tracks Infernal Hulk and Hulk War, with Philip Kennedy Johnson and Nick Klein laying out how the run is being assembled: Infernal Hulk 1 through 10, then several Hulk-centric interlude issues, and finally the proper Hulk War books, with Hulk War treated as the third…

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Why you'd press play

If you want the map behind Infernal Hulk and the road into Hulk War.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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